Article Figures & Data
Figures
- Figure 1.
Completion of 3-year followup, by year.
- Figure 2.
Modified Rodnan skin score (mRSS) during followup. Shaded box: interquartile range; light bar: median; whiskers: the most extreme observations.
- Figure 3.
Modified Rodnan skin score (mRSS) during followup, by treatment protocol. Light bars show medians; shaded boxes show interquartile range. The whiskers show the most extreme observation less than 1.5 times the length of the shaded boxes. Dots show the individual observations beyond the whiskers. Protocol 1. IV cyclophosphamide followed by mycophenolate mofetil (MMF); Protocol 2. Antithymocyte globulin followed by MMF; Protocol 3. MMF alone; Protocol 4. No disease-modifying treatment; Protocol 5. Other immunosuppressant treatment.
Tables
- Table 1.
Baseline characteristics and antibody status of patients with systemic sclerosis by treatment group. Values are median (IQR) unless otherwise indicated.
Characteristic Protocol 1 n = 29 Protocol 2 n = 25 Protocol 3 n = 61 Protocol 4 n = 19 Protocol 5 n = 13 p** Total (overall) n = 147 Age, yrs 55.1 (49.9–64.1) 52.7 (45.7–57.8) 54.4 (43.0–61.3) 55.6 (50.1–67.2) 40.9 (32.3–51.5) 0.01 53.1 (43.3–61) Women (%) 18 (62) 20 (80) 44 (72) 13 (68) 8 (62) 0.60 103 (70) Antitopoisomerase (anti-Scl-70) no. (%)* 8 (33) 5 (20) 14 (24) 6 (33) 4 (33) 0.72 37 (27) Anti-RNA polymerase III, no. (%)* 1 (8) 1 (4) 9 (22) 1 (14) 0 (0) 0.15 13 (12) On corticosteroids, no. (%) 9 (31) 17 (68) 16 (26) 7 (37) 8 (62) 0.002 57 (39)1 Pulmonary hypertension, no. (%) 6 (21) 0 (0) 0 (0) 2 (11) 0 (0) 0.001 8 (6) Pulmonary fibrosis, no. (%) 16 (57) 7 (28) 11 (18) 6 (32) 3 (23) 0.008 43 (30) Cardiac involvement, no. (%) 8 (28) 1 (4) 3 (5) 2 (11) 1 (8) 0.024 15 (10) mRSS, (0–51) 24 (20.5–30) 32 (30–41) 23.5 (18–30) 20.5 (18–22) 21 (13–27) 0.0001 24 (19–32) HAQ-DI score, 0–3 1.19 (0.56–2.00) 1.63 (1.38–2.50) 1.50 (0.75–2.13) 1.00 (0.25–2.00) 1.50 (0.00–2.63) 0.41 1.50 (0.75–2.13) Functional Questionnaire, 0–33 11.5 (3–18) 18 (10–21) 14.5 (7–21) 10 (1–23) 10 (0–11) 0.10 13.5 (6–19) Hemoglobin, g/l 127 (114–134) 117 (114–130) 124 (116–137) 123 (112–131) 121 (114–134) 0.60 123 (114–134)2 Platelets × 109/l 312 (257–350) 324 (270–414) 329 (297–399) 370 (284–441) 370 (305–432) 0.29 328 (278–403) ESR, mm/h 22 (7–37) 21 (8.5–36) 22 (10–34.5) 28 (13.5–36) 13 (9–18) 0.72 22 (10–36) Plasma creatinine, μmol/l 70 (57–87) 68 (64–82) 70 (63–83) 78 (72–104) 63.5 (58–72) 0.067 71 (63–84) Pulmonary function tests FVC, % predicted 76.0 (64.0–91.0) 93.3 (86.2–101.5) 87.8 (70.1–97.0) 88.7 (81.0–97.0) 84.7 (89.9–100.5) 0.16 87.7 (70.4–97.0) DLCO, % predicted 58.5 (45.0–79.0) 76.1 (64.3–81.6) 71.5 (54.0–87.0) 69.4 (48.6–85.0) 81.0 (65.5–91.4) 0.091 71.0 (54.0–84.0) -
↵* Percentages related to the numbers tested.
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↵** Significance p: Fisher’s exact test, for categorical variables; Kruskal-Wallis test, for continuous variables.
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↵1 Mean dose 15.7 mg (SD 10.2).
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↵2 24/76 women (32%) and 18/39 men (46%) were anemic (hemoglobin < 115 g/l for women and 135 g/l for men. IQR: interquartile range; mRSS: modified Rodnan skin score; HAQ-DI: Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index; ESR: erythrocyte sedimentation rate; FVC: forced vital capacity; DLCO: diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide.
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- Table 2.
Effect of baseline confounders on baseline mRSS and change over time. Values are expressed as coefficient (95% CI).
Measurement Effect on Skin Score at Baseline, n = 751 Effect on Skin Score Slope, n = 751 Age, per 10 years* 1.00 (0.07, 1.93) −0.83 (−1.48, −0.18) HAQ-DI score, per unit change 3.32 (1.67, 4.97) −0.62 (−1.81, 0.57) Functional Questionnaire, per unit change 0.31 (0.14, 0.49) −0.08 (−0.20, 0.04) Hemoglobin, per g/l −0.122 (−0.202, −0.041) 0.028 (−0.0223, 0.079) Platelets, per 109/l 0.022 (0.007, 0.036) 0.005 (−0.006, 0.016) Plasma creatinine, per μmol/l 0.007 (−0.009, 0.023) −0.015 (−0.022, −0.008) Pulmonary hypertension −0.05 (−3.97, 3.86) −1.88 (−7.34, 3.59) Pulmonary fibrosis −0.66 (−3.99, 2.68) −1.04 (−2.91, 0.82) Cardiac involvement 0.18 (−4.30, 4.65) −1.26 (−4.56, 2.04) -
↵* Changes in skin score assessed per 10-year unit. HAQ-DI: Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index.
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- Table 3.
Changes in mRSS over time in the different treatment protocols. Values are expressed as coefficient (95% CI).
Protocol 1, n = 29 Protocol 2, n = 25 Protocol 3, n = 61 Protocol 4, n = 19 p Present dataset −1.81 (−4.08, 0.460) −4.46 (−6.69, −2.23) −3.10 (−4.27, −1.93) −2.86 (−4.61, −1.11) 0.43 Present dataset (all subjects with weights ≥ 20 removed) n = 27 −0.786 (−3.55, 1.98) n = 23 −4.61 (−7.57, −1.65) n = 60 −3.49 (−4.76, −2.22) n = 16 −2.91 (−4.48, −1.34) 0.28 -
mRSS: modified Rodnan skin score.
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